Hi everyone, I thought it was about time I myself actually added something on here about Summer of Sonic.  Its also been a little while since we’ve had an update on the Summer of Sonic website so listen up – this is a good one.

You’d be surprised at the generosity of people connected with Summer of Sonic, the staff who I cannot say enough good things about give up not only their own time but in many instances their own money in order to help. The guests give up their time freely often preparing special items for the show and already this year SEGA Europe actually conjured us up some extra budget from somewhere - God alone knows where –  in order to make things easier for everyone so we didn’t have to do the charge and incur the vast legal framework that comes with it. That frankly says a lot.

Now we’ve always wanted the Sonic licensees to get involved with Summer of Sonic, up until now that’s not really been possible. But now I’m pleased to announce our first tie-in with a licensee for Summer of Sonic 2010.

A couple of months back I first made enquiries with Archie Comics (Sonic The Hedgehog, Sonic Universe) about a possible involvement – and we’re delighted to announce that the wonderful folks there were as keen to get involved in this year’s Summer of Sonic shenanigans as we were with them! Although none of the team can make it over in person this year, they’re very up for having a presence at the event and we’re very excited to have them – did we make that clear yet?

In an incredibly kind gesture that comes from the very top all the way down, the Archie team have given us several boxes of various Free Comic Book Day Sonic comics, so everybody who comes to Summer of Sonic – whilst stocks last – will get a copy of either the 2008 or 2010 Free Comic Book Day issue of Sonic The Hedgehog.  You know, the ones that are next to impossible to get hold of in Europe on the actual day! It will be random which one you get, but you can always swap amongst other fans.

We’ll be calling on you at SOS for a little something in way of a thank you to Archie incidentally, more on that on the day itself.

We’re also pleased to announce the return of the popular Comics table where you’ll be able to browse through an array of Sonic The Hedgehog comics from various eras, Flyboy Fox will be back (both bagged and boarded) to monitor that and will also be your point of contact for another Archie related SOS announcement round the corner! What could it be? Stay tuned to the SOS website to find out!

Previous attendees of Summer of Sonic will remember how lucky we were to have Fleetway Sonic the Comic artists Nigel Dobbyn and Nigel Kitching at our Comics table last year. Nigel Kitching unfortunately can’t make it this year, but we’re thrilled to announce that Nigel Dobbyn has once again agreed to spend time with us at SoS! He will be chatting and doing signings, and if the teaser Knuckles art above is any indication, we may see some new stuff too! Very exciting. We’re extremely grateful to Nigel for making the time to join us. Please do stop by the Comics tables to say hi to him!

Keep your eyes peeled, folks, for Sonic the Comic Online artists who may also be at SoS this year showing off their talent. Don’t forget to show off your talent at the Art tables, too! More on that later. Stay tuned!

A quick introduction before I start! My name is Josh Urtheart Cartlidge; most of you won’t know me, but you’ll have certainly seen me at previous events as I head the security team among other things for SoS!
Before I start, I would like to give thanks to those involved in the Summer of Sonic door security the past two years: Phil “vger” Sims, Joanne “Jemnezmy” Dowling, James “JJ” Maloney, John “Turbo” Finlay, Jessica “Violet” Palmer and Jason “Blake Draco” Hill, all of whom have given up their time to help make sure you guys get in safe and sound.

This year Summer of Sonic will be bigger and better than previous years, and so with the increase in size comes and increase in cost. We’ll be employing better systems for stage performances, showing off trailers and animations. We’ll have more events for you to participate in. Another part of making the event fun is making sure you guys feel safe by having proper security measures in place, and this also costs more.

However thanks to SEGA and the Summer of Sonic team, for the third consecutive year, Summer of Sonic will be a free event. That’s right, once again we won’t be charging you anything to attend the convention! Similar to Summer of Sonic 2009, we will once again have a registration period where you can sign up and get a ticket sent out to you electronically. With this ticket you will be able to get guaranteed entry into the convention, as well as get in before anyone without a ticket! All you need to do is present your e-ticket at the door; we’ll punch your ticket, stamp your hand, and let you in!

If you don’t have access to a printer to print off your ticket (or if you’d prefer to save paper) feel free to bring your ticket with you on your iPhone; I am more than happy to hole punch that as well.

More details of the tickets and registration will be coming soon.

See you all there!

Joshua Urtheart Cartlidge

Well by now you all know this years Summer of Sonic is taking place at The Pavilion in Shepherd’s Bush, but before we really get down to the event itself there is one very important aspect that needs covering, how do I get there?

Well you’re in luck because we have managed to grab a location this time that is very close to several transport links, and lets not forget the Walkabout bar right next door, or the large Shepard’s Bush Common just over the road from The Pavilion. Now I’m going to make the assumption here that you all can manage to get to these initial locations from wherever you are, as I’m not in the mood for directing in excess of 500 people to one location from there front door steps all at the same time.

Train/Underground:
You’re spoilt for choice when it comes to the London Underground with three tube stations in close proximity.
UPDATE: Be warned that several London Underground lines are down for engineering work the weekend of Summer of Sonic, including the following:

Hammersmith & City (Pink): NO SERVICE ON THIS LINE. Replacement Bus service: Hammersmith and Paddington, calling at Goldhawk Road, Shepherds Bush (Central), Latimer Road, Ladbroke Grove, Westbourne Park and Royal Oak.
Jubilee Line (Grey/Silver): no service between Stanmore and West Hampstead. Rail replacement buses operate.
Metropolitan Line (Purple): Saturday 7 August, no service between Harrow-on-the-Hill and Aldgate. Rail replacement buses operate.
Northern Line (Black): Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 August, no service between Morden and Kennington. A rail replacement bus service operates between Clapham Common and Morden.
Waterloo & City Line (Aqua): Completely closed.
Stations Closed:
King’s Cross St. Pancras: Closed to Northern Line (Black) trains.
Latimer Road (Hammersmith & City Line): Closed westbound from Saturday 3 July until Saturday 4 December, inclusive. London Underground tickets are valid on any reasonable local London Bus route between Ladbroke Grove, Latimer Road, Wood Lane and Shepherd’s Bush Green.
Blackfriars; Circle (Yellow) and District (Green): Closed until late 2011. Please use Temple and Mansion House stations. Tickets are also accepted on bus 388 between Mansion House and Embankment.
Cannon Street; Circle (Yellow) and District (Green): Closed on Saturdays and Sundays until mid 2012. Please use nearby Bank, Mansion House or Monument stations.

For the latest information on line closures please consult the Transport for London website here.

Shepherds Bush (London underground/rail) (Click here for Google Map of Route)
Directions: Leave the tube/rail station and head towards Uxbridge Road, a (Vue cinema should be directly in front of you across the road), turn right and follow the road passing Shepherd’s Bush common on your left. Once you reach the end of the common you will see a Barcleys branch on the other side of the road, cross over using the crossing provided so that you are in front of the branch, then follow the road to your left with Shepherd’s Bush common on the other side of the road to your left, and just after the post office is the Pavilion (if you pass the Walkabout bar then you have gone too far).

Shepherd’s Bush Market (Click here for Google map of Route)
Directions: Upon leaving the station walk down Uxbridge Road passing Shepherd’s Bush Library (a red brick building on your right hand side), until you reach the Barclays bank building (on your right), then turn right onto Shepherd’s Bush Green, Shepherd’s Bush common should be just on your right on the other side of the road. Follow the road past the post office (on your right) and then you will you have reached your destination (if you pass the Walkabout bar then you have gone too far).

Goldhawk Road (Click here for Google maps Route)
From the Underground walk to the end of the street towards the main road, the Stinging Nettle Pub should be on your right. Turn right, and follow the road until you reach the O’neills bar on your left. Then turn left until just after the Walkabout bar at which point you have reached the Summer of Sonic, (if you pass a post office then you have gone too far).

To get to one of these stations from one of the larger transport hubs in London the please follow the following directions,

From London Kings Cross/St Pancras
Take the Circle (Yellow) ( the Hammersmith & City line is closed), from Kings Cross towards Hammersmith and get off at the Shepherd’s Bush Market Station.

From London Victoria
Take the Circle (yellow) or the District line (green) towards Edgware Road, and alight at Notting Hill Gate then get on the Central line (red) towards Ealing Broadway and get off at Sheperd’s Bush.

Buses:
There are several bus stops rather conveniently placed right outside the venue, for more information on how to get there by bus from where you are check out the Transport for London website.

Car:
The event being in the middle of London, taking a car may not be the best idea, but if you insist on bringing another gas guzzler into London then you have the option of parking in the Westfield Centre Car Park, prices start at £2 for an hour.

Air:
That pretty much covers every means of getting to the event unless your borrowing Tails’ biplane to get to the event in which case it’s suggested you park at Heathrow, and from Heathrow take the Piccadily Line (blue) Hammersmith Underground Station, and from there take the Circle (yellow line) (Hammersmith & City (pink line) is closed) to Goldhawk Road, and follow the directions listed above from Goldhawk road.

The SoS crew are delighted to announce that we will be having a Cosplay Competition again this year!

Last year saw some amazing entries as Summer of Sonic attendees wowed us with their talent, passion and creative flair. The level of talent and dedication involved blew us away, and so it’s with our ‘dare ya!’ faces on that we ask - can YOU do better?
There will be prizes on offer for the best costumes on the day, so it’s time to get down to the charity shops and craft stores, rummage around in that bag of old clothes you were about to throw away, and show us just what you’re made of.

There will be a semi-enclosed area just inside the entrance where you will be able to change into your costumes if you don’t fancy parading all around London dressed up (why on Earth not?). You may also leave your costumes there while you explore the convention, but please note that you do so at your own risk. With so much going on, we can’t be held responsible for any missing belongings, so please do be careful.

Finally, we really do want you to have the best of fun and be as creative as possible with your costumes, but in the interest of safety we do ask that you don’t bring with you any item that can be used as, or looks like, a weapon. Clearly whimsical and dud items are fine, but you will not be able to bring any realistic weaponry props into the Pavilion, so bear this in mind before you set out.

So, let us know if you’ll be cosplaying this year, and get to it and dazzle us!

For those of you who will be travelling great distances to come to this year’s Summer of Sonic convention, you’ll need to find yourself accommodation; not an easy task in London, especially if you’re travelling on a budget! But have no fear! We are here to help you with some good ideas and some great places to stay for SoS!

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We may have only just announced our intended venue for the Summer of Sonic 2010 yesterday, but the team has been considering it – and many other locations – for a long, long time. On the 1st May 2010, we all came together to take a look at The Pavilion to see its potential for ourselves. I brought my video camcorder. The rest, as they say, is history.

History that’s documented on moving images, naturally. And you can watch that video right now using the player below. We will be posting many photos from our cameras that day too, so if you didn’t catch a lot of detail in this video, then don’t worry. I’ll shut up now and let you watch it now. Enjoy!

I mentioned on the Summer of Sonic Facebook page that we would have something to announce this weekend (if you haven’t, join our Facebook group already!). Today, we can reveal our intended venue for this year’s convention – The Pavilion in Shepherd’s Bush.

Located in a wonderful spot, right at the top of Shepherd’s Bush Common, The Pavilion is a huge space that is broken down into three levels. As you walk in from the entrance hallway, you’ll be facing a 1000-people strong space with steps leading down to each level ahead of you. There’s more than enough room for a stage at the bottom floor, with a backdrop that hangs from an even bigger balcony area!

EDIT: I should quickly add that there is access for wheelchairs on either side of the venue space as well, so don’t worry about disabled access. However, to answer a question that was recently asked in our comments section, there’s no Induction Loop installed I’m afraid as it is a recently refurbished venue. We apologise if this will make it difficult to enjoy the convention – nevertheless, the team is focused on trying to accommodate for the hearing impared, hopefully we will have some news on this soon.

We’re really excited about this venue, and we hope to share a video and various photos detailing the location in more detail very soon. For the time being, click here for a Google Maps page on the venue’s specific location – it’s just around the corner from Tube Stations: Shepherd’s Bush, Shepherd’s Bush Market and Goldhawk Road. A more detailed description on getting to the venue will be available shortly.

(NB: Ignore the random furniture and gubbins; it’ll look a lot more Soniccy when you arrive!)

You might be wondering why it has taken us a long time to get this location announced. Various factors come into play when it comes to hiring a professional venue for an event – there’s signing of contracts, adding of accounts, and various clauses that need to be discussed at length before a deal between parties can be made final.

In 2008, we did not really have this issue, because a community hall of about 200-people strong was hired for the day, and there wasn’t any red tape to speak of. Last year, as the needs and demands of the Summer of Sonic convention grew, the team knew that we couldn’t get away with doing the same, so we went through a similar process as we have this year to lock down the Truman Brewery. The fact that we have changed venue for 2010 means all of that background work had to be done again.

However, whereas we picked the Truman Brewery as an excellent location for the 2009 event specifically, when it came to finding a venue for 2010 the team decided to look for a place that we could use in the future. The core team recently had a tour of The Pavilion, and we’re certain that – if all goes well – we can use this location for future Summer of Sonic events. And, it saves us going through a similarly long and arduous contracts process next time around.

So here’s to our intended venue for the Summer of Sonic 2010 – The Pavilion! We’ll hopefully see you here on the 7th August!

Hi again – Svend ‘Dreadknux’ Joscelyne here again, greeting you to the beginning of a convention full of wonder and fun! Seriously guys, this year is going to be awesome. I hope you’re looking forward to it.

As you might know, for those who have attended the Summer of Sonic convention in the past, I’m the creator and co-organiser behind the event. Kevin ‘ArchangelUK/AAUK’ Eva of SEGA Europe and Sonic Wrecks fame, co-heads the show. But a lot more manpower (and womanpower!) goes into making SoS the best it can be than just us two. In fact, the original 2008 convention might not have taken place at all were it not for the help of our friends, who are now core members of the SoS team.

On this page I will introduce you to the core crew – these guys will be posting every now and then on this website to give you a little insight into their side of organising this year’s event, and will also be in charge of revealing some really cool things that will be happening at the convention too.

Adam ‘T-Bird’ Tuff: Stage Manager
T-Bird is a metalhead, just like me. And he has long-ish hair. And wears hats. This awesome chap is in charge of setting up the schedule and various other arrangements involving the stage – so any quizzes, performances or other activities will be executed by his hand with a flair and grace that would make even the hardened Sally Acorn swoon. T-Bird will also be keeping the DJ area in check, along with various other related entertainment functions.

Joshua ‘Urtheart’ Cartlidge
Urtheart, being the head of our Security department, may try to put on the meanest face while letting people in through the doors – but don’t be intimidated, he’s a nice and gentle bloke. He will be in charge of leading his team to ensure that your time spent at the Summer of Sonic is a safe and enjoyable one – keep on the lookout for some public service announcements on here from him very soon.  Urtheart has a multitude of part-time roles on TSS, Radio SEGA, Emerald Coast and Sonic Wrecks message board Entherial Online.

Ian ‘Bmn’ Bennett
Bmn is our Tech Leader – at SOS and both SEGASonic Radio and The Sonic Stadium. If he says we need more Chaos Emerald energy to power our ambitious stage lighting, then you can be sure his word is law. But hopefully, things shouldn’t come to that. His main job will be to keep everything ticking nicely in the venue – lights, DJ decks, live feeds, and other background technogubbins that you won’t see. If you don’t see him around, he’ll likely be tinkering our R.O.C.C. (Let’s hope he doesn’t Kick The R.O.C.C – AAUK)

Alex ‘Flyboy Fox’ Perea
SSMB admin Flyboy Fox looks after the Comics and Cartoons area of the convention. She’s the one you need to thank for setting up all of those comics for you to read every year. This year we will have some pretty grand plans for those who want to hang around the Comics area, so stay tuned for some future announcements.

Dale ‘Shadzter’ Gennard
TSS article writer and SSMB admin Shadzter’s our resident Sonic gaming guru, looking after people who will be eager to play various games from the blue blur’s past and present. If you’re ever stuck in a Sonic game, look to him for advice – yes, it’s true, he even knows how to get past that barrel in Sonic the Hedgehog 3. Look to him in the Games area in your time of need.

Phil ‘Vger’ Sims
The head of Emerald Coast and an SSR DJ, Vger helps out at the doors, and is on hand to make sure that everyone has a great time at the convention. He’s never far from his miniature two-tailed friend, Tails. Well, a plushie Tails. But it’s a plushie Tails that travels the world, so who are we to jest? One of Vger’s jobs will be to make sure you get into the venue safely and easily – provided you have your tickets at the ready, of course!

Rory ‘Roareye’ Joscelyne / Jay (aka ‘Discoponies’)
You might know Roareye from the Sonic Showcase Network and the SEGASonic Radio LiVECAST show, The Sonic Hour. And Discoponies is none other than the man behind The Sonic Show. Between these two forces of ultimate awesome, they will present the Summer of Sonic to you, dear Internet user, via the power of live video. Even if you can’t make it, this convention helps you keep track of the action. How great is that?

Lewis ‘Hairyman’ Clark
Legend has it that SEGA Driven’s Hairyman is best friends with Sonic the Hedgehog, and knows his exact whereabouts. As a result, we have put our trust in him to escort the legendary blue blur from South Island to London town. But isn’t it strange that you never see the two together in the same place? Yeah, you guessed correctly – Hairyman is seriously bad at timekeeping!

Don’t forget that there are even more people that help make the Summer of Sonic an awesome day out beyond this core team – be sure to thank the volunteers and other venue staff that will be helping us out on the day! Without everyone’s input… well, nothing would really happen, would it?